19 year old LulzSec mastermind arrested

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Looks like the days of LulzSec's hackathon are now numbered, with the arrest of a 19 year old from Essex said to be the mastermind behind the cyber attacks.

A joint operation between the FBI and Scotland Yard led to the eventual arrest of the teenager by a special police e-crime unit.

LulzSec is well known for its hacking of the US X-Factor contestant database, Sony Pictures and just last week a rumoured attack on CIA.gov.

"Recently we got bored of owning FBI, so we're just throwing it out there. You guys suck, stop reusing your damn passwords, peons!" said a post on LulzSec's Twitter feed.

The most recent rumours are that LulzSec had obtained the entirety of the 2011 census from the Office of National Statistics.

A statement issued by the ONS in relation to the cyber attack read:

"We are aware of the suggestion that census data has been accessed. We are working with our security advisers and contractors to establish whether there is any substance to this. The 2011 Census places the highest priority on maintaining the security of personal data. At this stage we have no evidence to suggest that any such compromise has occurred."

A message that has been left on website Pastebin addressed to "news media and panicking bloggers", appears to say otherwise.

"Stop freaking out and writing hysterical news articles based on a single anonymous message. You did it with the Britain's Got Talent thing, and now you're doing it with the "census leak"."

LulzSec had been using Pastebin to post information and details of previous hacks.

Police are questioning the LulzSec teenager at a central London police station under the Computer Misuse Act and Fraud Act.

"The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions and distributed denial of service attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group."

"Searches at a residential address in Wickford, Essex, following the arrest last night have led to the examination of a significant amount of material." said a Scotland Yard spokesperson.

UPDATE: LulzSec has said that it may not have been the groups leader that was arrested via its Twitter feed. It looks like hacking could continue.

"Seems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it's all over now... wait... we're all still here! Which poor bastard did they take down?"

The group also denied any involvement with ONS hacks: "Just saw the pastebin of the UK census hack. That wasn't us - don't believe fake LulzSec releases unless we put out a tweet first."